BY JOE CONASON Within the coming weeks, Americans will begin to consider critical issues concerning the future of health care for themselves and their children, including universal coverage, taxation of benefits, computerized records and the controlling of costs. But before the debate commences in Congress and the media, big insurance and pharmaceutical companies are lobbying […]

BY FROMA HARROP While walking recently on a crowded Manhattan sidewalk, I suddenly saw a wall of water crash down from somewhere over our heads. The source was a truck from which a fat hose was pouring water on the flower baskets hanging from posts. The baskets were intended to add some charm to the […]

BY SUSAN ESTRICH Am I concerned, friends ask me quietly, after we all publicly praise President Obama’s monumental Cairo speech. The friends are usually, but not always, Jewish. They are all, like me, strong supporters of the state of Israel. The answer is that of course I’m concerned. I’m very concerned. But since when has […]

BY JIM HIGHTOWER If you want to be seen as a flag-flying, macho American, you’ve got to have the right ride – and nothing says swaggering hedonism and outta-my-way arrogance quite like a Hummer. Yes, it’s a high-dollar, gas-guzzling symbol of excess, but hey, that’s the point! As the founder of a Hummer support group […]

BY FROMA HARROP McAllen, TX, spends more per person on health care than any other metropolitan area in America, except for Miami. Why would this poor border town spend $15,000 a year per Medicare enrollee? Rochester, MN, home to the famed Mayo Clinic, only spends about half as much. Find the answer, and we have […]